2. The Great Train Race

…this page follows the VMA 3000 m Championships

Back in 1984 I was at a peak in my running. Heather and I had joined a local running club – Wonthaggi Road Runners – the previous year and I had been able to burst through the 4 min barrier.

In November 1983 I led my team to a win in the Leongatha South Huff ‘n Puff run, covering 9 km at 3:53 pace. I ran the 10.1 km Koo Wee Rup Spud Fun Run at 3:56 pace and ran our own club’s 5.5 km fun run at 3:45 pace.

In pre- season training I had ran down all of our senior players in a 10 km time trial, surging past Barry Oates – our young playing coach – as we ran past the Miners Rest on the way home. The rival footy club in the town had organised a fun run in February to raise money and o get their boys fit. I entered, as part of the Wonthaggi Road Runners, and easily beat all of the Rovers footballers in to clain the “fastest footballer” prize. The fact that a kid from the Blues beat all the Rovers footballers earned some local notoriety with my picture on the back page of the Sentinel Times.

In that time I had helped to get my good school friend, Darren Williams, into running. He had ben showing some natural ability and was quickly improving. We decided to enter a fledgling fun run up in the Dandenongs where you had to race Puffing Billy – a tourist steam engine.

We got to the start line of The Great Train Race and the number of paricipants was astonishing. On the 1st of April, 1984, we set off on the 13.5 km run with thousands of other runners. Darren and I ran the race together and it was by far the most difficult run I had ever done. It made the coast road seem like a picnic. It felt like every single step was up hill. Darren was running really well and I couldn’t shake him off. We got to a point on the outskirts of Emerald and Darren took off. I then noticed the 2 km (remaining) marker and called out after him, but he knew what he was doing. I couldn’t catch him until after he stopped at the finish. I finished the run in 56 mins 50 seconds – 5 mins slower than the train. It had been a hard run and the hills had slowed me to 4:12 pace.

That was the first time Darren beat me and I would never beat him again. Later in the year I was second to him in the school cross country and then again in the Sth Gippsland inter school cross country at Foster. He went on to run his first marathon later in the year and finished in a tick under 3 hours. Later in his running career he ran 10 km in under 30 minutes and that is a legendary time.

My first peak petered out with footy knocks, year 12 studies and then university in 1985. The Great Train Race, however, was easily the highlight of that great running season.

Big Training Load – April 14th to 21st

Following some short faster running to prepare for the 3000 m Championships I made a decision to go into a heavy load of longer runs.  Given that it was the second week of school holidays this was an opportunity to put in a big string of runs.

I started the week with a couple of 13.4 km runs on the Monday and then again, on a modified course, on Tuesday.  Pace was a little down running at 4:41 on Monday and then even slower at 4:47 on Tuesday.

On Wednesday I decided to get the ace up on a shorter 10 km run.  I got home in under 45 minutes running at 4:28 pace.

Thursday was set for a longer 15 km run.  I put in some good sub 4:30 laps in the first half before dropping off the pace in the second half before finishing with a 4:49 15th km.  Overall I averaged 4:42 pace so I was happy with that.  I just would have preferred to be able to hold it together a bit better in the third quarter.

After covering 51 km in the first four days I decided that I was feeling quite fresh still and that I would push to get to 100 km in 8 days if possible.

On Friday I set out on my 13.4 km run.getting some good pace early. In the second half my left calf felt a little sore and when I cooled down after the run it was a little stiff, but higher on the calf than the previous week. I couldn’t get in a cycle after the run as the rain started as I was finishing the run. Most days earlier in the week I had followed up with a cycle.

My leg felt alright on Saturday morning and I got to run with my son who had come down to visit the previous night. We set off on a 10 km run. I tried to get the pace up early but found my legs a lot heavier than earlier in the week. I slowed down a bit in the 7th and 8th kilometers but was able to get a bit of pace up for the finish. Matt took off in the last km and pulled away very quickly. My last km was a 4:17 – one of my fastest for the week. I ended up finishing with an average ace of 4:40. After cooling down my legs pulled up a bit stiff, especially the lower left leg.

Matt and I met up with Les Corson for a planned run from the Guide Park in Wonthaggi on Sunday morning. I was keen to try a 14 km course that I had mapped out. We headed out towards Harmers Haven and then back across to the Cape Paterson road and returned to Wonthaggi. Les is usually a 5 min per km runner and I was quite happy to run at that pace. Les had other ideas though and pushed hard early with a few sub 4:40 kilometers. I was finding it hard to keep up but I managed to kee pushing up onto Les’ shoulder. This spurred Les and and we kept up some pretty good pace all the way around. My legs were heavy and I was struggling at times with the left but wasn’t overly hampered. I was able to run quite freely in that last kilometer and we finished the 14 km run at 4:50 pace on average. On cooling down and icing though my left leg was quite stiff. I went for a long cycle later in the morning and them a short walk in the afternoon and it warmed up nicely both times. I guess I’ll see how it feels in the morning before deciding whether to put in the final 12 km to get to 100 in 8 days.

On Monday morning my left leg was still quite stiff. After breakfast I warmed it up, stretched out and decided to see if I could jog on it. It hurt a little but I was able to jog. The first kilometer was just under 5:40 pace but I quickened up after that to cover the 12 km at 5:16 pace. My left leg felt good after I stopped running.

In the EIGHT days I managed to run 101.3 km – that was made up of 100 full kilometers plus 1.3 km of incomplete kilometers at the end of runs. I actually ran on NINE consecutive days – as I ran the VMA 3000m on April 13 – and in the 9 days covered 107.8 km. My average pace over the EIGHT days was 4:46. Prior to today’s jog my average pace was sitting on 4:42. Pretty happy with the effort and my legs should now have a bit of work in them to take me through the winter season. It’s back to work tomorrow so running opportunities will not be as good.

Its now less than 2 weeks until The Great Train Race so all my work now will be aimed at being in pretty good condition for that run.

April 22nd to 27th

After the big running load I took two days off (fitting in a short cycle on the Wednesday after work) and went out for a short 6km run before work on Thursday.  It was a struggle with heavy legs.  The third kilometer I peaked at 4:39 but then struggled to bring it home dropping to just under 5 minute pace.

On Friday morning I ran my 10km course.  I peaked at 4:40 for the 5th kilometer but then my speed dropped off due to the still heavy legs.  The top of my left calf has been sore and I have been a bit conservative as I don’t want to injure it further.  I followed the run up with a solid cycle before lunch.

On Saturday I went with my family to cycle around the Phillip Island racing circuit.  I put in a very solid 25 km.  We stopped for lunch on the way home and then I went for my 10km run in the afternoon.  It was very hard work after eating fish and chips for lunch.  I got up to 4:40 pace early but struggled all round after that and jogged home at just under 5 minute pace.

Sunday morning I got up feeling good.  I went for a run around the town and pushed it hard on a few Strava segments to see what I could do.  The 7th kilometer contained the first segment and I averaged 4:16 pace – getting under 4 minute pace for the segment.  I struggled a bit on the next 700m segment, averaging 4:34 pace but I finished strongly completing the last 1.6km segment at 4:22 pace.  Overall the 10km run was completed at 4:41 pace and my legs held up well.  I followed the run up with an hour and a quarter on the bike – my longest ride in a while.

Lead up to the Great Train Race

I started the week with a couple of days off to let my legs recover further.  The plan was to run shorter faster runs on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday mornings.

On Wednesday morning I decided to run 8km instead of the shorter 6km course.  I started at 4:47 pace and was able to increase my pace for each consecutive kilometer.  The 7th kilometer was down to 4:22 pace then I really pushed for the final kilometer and finished with a 3:59 kilometer.  My legs felt great.

Given the rain forecast for Friday morning I made the decision to run on Thursday after work.  This also meant that I was able to go on a longer run so I went out on the 13 km course.  I was trying to push to run under 45 minutes for the 10km but was finding it difficult to get under 4:30 pace for the first half of the run.  After losing a little pace on the 8th kilometer I really pushed for the 9th and 10 kilometers, getting down to 4:20 pace and running the 10km in 45:22.  I dropped back the pace for the 11th kilometer and then pushed a little harder for the last 2 km to finish the 13 km in just under an hour.

On Saturday morning I wanted to get in a solid 10km run before the Great Train Race.  I got off to a good start with a 4:38 and then hit some nice pace once warm.  Down to 4:18 for the 3rd km and then held that pace well.  I picked up the pace for the 9th kilometer, getting down to low 4s, and held that til the end to get under 45 mins for the first time in a while for 10km.  I got back home in 43:13 and was very happy with the hitout.  In the afternoon I went on an easy cycle to ease the muscles.

The 33rd Great Train Race

Matt and I had a great warm up at the top of the hill.  I got in a 2.5km warm up with stretches and a few laps of the nearby school.

I started in the second group so was not too far from the start line.  I got through the crowds early and didn’t have the opportunity to start too fast as I usually do because of the other runners.  I got the first kilometer out of the way in 3:50 and then got to the first hill.  My times were up and down with the hills but I ran three sub 4s in the first 5km.  I ran the first 5km in a very impressive 20:17.

The big hill then followed and my times blew out to a 4:50 and a 5:16.  It was a struggle up the hill on the gravel road but I was overtaking runners most of the way up.  It was good to get to level ground again though.

Times steadied in the second half and I got through 10km in 43:43.  I picked up pace for the downhill run home and put in my fourth sub 4 for the 13th kilometer.  I felt that the train was really close for the fourth and final rail crossing.  I could hear it but I got across and never saw it.  I pushed hard at the end, determined not to see the train catch me and also to get under the hour.

I crossed the line, running 13.5km in 58:22, and was the 318th runner across the line.  Matt crossed the line in 63rd place in a time of 52:14, averaging under 4 mins per kilometer.  Not bad given the 3300 runners in the event.  It is a hard run but the best achievements are the hard ones to get.